Found Dreaming

I can see how that would help, but what's the long term effect of having something biodegradable in your sand? Especially if you don't cast very often.

Well... if your pleagued with field mice, or shrews they will soon disappear. Them critters genuinely love corn flour... they raid your sand bits that's spread across the shop floor purely 'cause the taste of the corn flour on each and every grain of sand. Once injested the bentonite that's also on those grains will swell enormously and ultimately plug them critters up tite as a tick's ass. They can't crap, therefore they die. That's one terrific benefit right there!!

I have let my sand sit for over a year (back when I thought I had damaged my spine). You could smell the mold within the sand mix but quite frankly the odor wasn't unpleasant, AND... it had absolutely no side effect in my casting once I put the sand back into action. And finally... we all know the odors from casting metals into varying types of sand molds. My wife hated the odor as it permiated into the house and drove her nuts. Since I used corn flour as an addition to the sand (purely 'cause some old fart that knew his stuff told me to) the wife actually was amazed at the pleasant difference in odor that was produced. Now, instead of smelling up the house with industrial smell, it smelled like we were cooking/burning tortillas!! You would be amazed how many hispanics come driving up my drive to inquire if we were operating a foundry and asking if they could apply. I'm not being racist here, guys... that actually happened several times over a couple years. Those hispanics knew, as their own foundries in their country used the same sand mix to produce product.

And on a last note, the reason to use corn flour as an assistant binding agent in green sand your castings will come out far cleaner and without so much oxidation, expecially bronze. Instead of being burnt brown and gray, they come out looking near wire brushed and shined. It also helps achieve finer detail in the cast.

That enough reason? Sure was for me!!

Sounds good to me Frank

On another note, we have sorta got a little of track on this thread, could one of the administrator start a subsection under maybe molding bench so we can have a section for sand formulators and molding sand discussion, and possibly move this sand discussion over

Mike

wow ive been a little sidetracked lately building a router duplicator ,i will post pics of inside the muller as soon as i get it apart,ill be back in a hour.....

bobbydigital wrote:wow ive been a little sidetracked lately building a router duplicator ,i will post pics of inside the muller as soon as i get it apart,ill be back in a hour.....

Hours up

well better late than never i guess,lol